Dwyane Wade

The six-time All-Star finished with 45 in a 115-105 win to give the Heat a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

Only LeBron James (also three) and Dwyane Wade (seven) have previously had as many 40-point games for the Heat in the postseason as Butler.

Indeed, only James (26.9) and Wade (22.6) have averaged more points per game for the Heat in the postseason than Butler (21.9).

And coach Erik Spoelstra, who led a Heat team containing James and Wade to titles in 2012 and 2013, considers Butler worthy of comparison to the latter.

"It actually is a good comparison," Spoelstra said. "If you get in those pressure moments and the moments of truth, if you're on the other side, would you ever want to just give Dwyane Wade an open three?

"You would not, because he's a killer. He's going to seize that moment.

"And Jimmy has a lot of those same qualities. You can say whatever the percentage is – throw those all out when it becomes about winning. He'll find a way to kill you."

Butler's latest display was unlike anything previously seen by a Heat player, though.

At the start of the week, no player had finished with 40-plus points, five-plus rebounds, five-plus assists, no turnovers and no fouls in a playoff game since turnovers became an official statistic in 1977-78.

Butler became the second player to achieve such a stat line in two days, following in the footsteps of breakout Dallas Mavericks star Jalen Brunson.

The two previous 40-point playoff games from Butler had come in the 2020 run to the NBA Finals, which played out in the 'bubble' in Orlando.

But Butler, now paired with point guard Kyle Lowry, feels he is "a different player" in 2022.

"I am a different player now than I was then," he said. "I just always want to play basketball the right way and do whatever it takes to help this team, this organisation win. That's why they brought me here.

"I'm not as ball-dominant as I was in the bubble. We've got a point guard, and that's Kyle, and I love him being a point guard.

"I just get to go out there and try to score. And if I can't score, pass the ball. We're a different team; I'm a different player."

With 38 points at Crypto.com Arena, James moved to 38,390 in his regular season career, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's long-standing record of 38,387.

The four-time champion has been the league's pre-eminent star across stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat and the Lakers.

Now, across basketball history, he stands alone.

It is a remarkable achievement and only becomes more impressive when delving into the numbers behind James' new record.

Beating the Thunder

The Thunder may have put a slight dampener on James' big night by winning Tuesday's game, but the 38-year-old actually has more career points than Oklahoma City's entire active roster combined (21,900).

Indeed, the Thunder are merely one of five rosters James can better, along with the Indiana Pacers (36,515), the Orlando Magic (33,164), the San Antonio Spurs (32,364) and the Houston Rockets (28,642).

Had James not got over the line on Tuesday, he would have done instead against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday – and that would have been fitting, too.

James has scored more points against the Bucks (1,751) than against any other team. In fact, the Thunder (994) are the team he has scored the third-fewest against – more only than against the Lakers (829) and the Cavaliers (580), two teams he represented.

The Lakers forward scored at least 1,000 points against each of the other 27 teams, while he has scored 1,000 in each of his 20 NBA seasons. That is another record he has taken from Abdul-Jabbar (19).

James would have no doubt enjoyed being able to achieve this legendary feat in front of a home crowd, but he has actually scored more points on the road (19,251 in 694 games) than at home (19,139 in 716).

Unsurprisingly, however, Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is the arena to have seen the most James points (11,670). The Lakers' Crypto.com Arena (4,649) nudged ahead of the Heat's Miami-Dade Arena (4,613) into second place on Tuesday.

Wade's helping hand

In that home crowd in LA, sitting in front of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, was Dwyane Wade, a two-time title-winning team-mate of James' on the Heat.

Wade also joined James on the Cavaliers for a season and, although now retired, has assisted more points for the new all-time scoring leader than any other player (776).

Eric Snow (630) is second on that list, with Mario Chalmers (591) third and Mo Williams (501) fourth, followed by Kevin Love (486) and Kyrie Irving (469).

Russell Westbrook has only been playing with James in LA since 2021, but he is ninth on 375. Anthony Davis (269) is 11th and Chris Bosh (267) 12th.

Ricky Davis assisted James' first NBA points and 42 altogether. Davis, who retired in 2010, was the first of 148 different players to assist James.

But the bulk of James' points have been unassisted, of course. His 26,855 unassisted points alone would rank him 13th in the all-time list, ahead of Kevin Durant (26,684), who is second to the Lakers man among active players.

James has scored 10,882 points from layups, 8,074 from two-point jump shots and 8,047 from free throws. Of the rest, 6,711 have come from three-pointers, 4,190 from dunks, 310 from hook shots and 176 from tip-ins.

Another Lakers record

The record was reached with a fadeaway jumper, and several members of Lakers royalty were in the house to see it – including Abdul-Jabbar.

James followed Abdul-Jabbar as the seventh different player to lead the NBA in all-time scoring since the end of the league's first season in 1946-47.

Four of those seven have now represented the Lakers, with James and Abdul-Jabbar joined by George Mikan (1952-53 to 1957-58) and Wilt Chamberlain (1965-66 to 1983-84). Chamberlain took ownership of the record while a Philadelphia 76er, before playing for the Lakers.

Chamberlain succeeded Bob Pettit, one of the remaining three who did not turn out for the Lakers. Joe Fulks, the leading scorer in the NBA's first season, and Dolph Schayes are the others.

Luka Doncic, just 23 and with 8,531 points through 311 career games, is perhaps the most credible challenger to James' crown. James had 8,319 points through 311 games, albeit he was only 22.

Matching James' longevity is a huge ask; either way, he will be number one for a long, long time.

Time spent at the top is a record Abdul-Jabbar can at least retain for now, having ranked first in scoring for a mammoth 14,187 days. The NBA was only 13,671 days old when he took the record, meaning he led the league for more than half of its existence.

Still more to achieve

That is not the only Abdul-Jabbar mark that remains, with the 75-year-old out in front on 57,446 minutes played. James (53,743) is third, while he is tied for ninth in games played (1,410) – a statistic led by Robert Parish (1,611).

Abdul-Jabbar is the man to beat for MVP awards, too, with six, and James' four appear unlikely to be added to now, given his age and the Lakers' woes.

James should pass Abdul-Jabbar for All-Star selections, though, as the pair are tied on 19, while the modern great already has a leading 13 All-NBA First Team selections.

In the playoffs, James already topped the charts for points (7,631) and games played (266), although the 'GOAT' debate will rage on as Michael Jordan has the edge in Finals MVPs (six to James' four).

Among players with 500 or more games, Jordan (30.1) is also the leading man for points per game in the regular season, even if James (27.2 in fifth) is averaging 30.2 this year, the third-highest mark of his career.

At that rate, even if James cannot reel in Jordan, he should be able to establish a considerable buffer to any and all pretenders to his new crown.

Wade – a three-time champion and 13-time All-Star – joins majority owner Ryan Smith in Utah, where the Jazz lead the NBA with a 42-14 record this season.

The 39-year-old Wade won three titles with the Miami Heat, having also played for the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers before retiring in 2019.

"When you're able to get an opportunity to meet someone like Ryan that has been very successful in business, that can educate you, that can teach you — I'm all about I want mentors, and Ryan became a mentor to me," Wade said after joining a shortlist of former players with ownership stakes in NBA franchises, alongside Hall of Famer Michael Jordan (Charlotte Hornets), Los Angeles Lakers great Shaquille O'Neale (Sacramento Kings) and Grant Hill (Atlanta Hawks).

"Did I ever think that this would be a part of our conversations? No, I did not. But this was always a goal of mine, to one day hopefully be a part of something bigger than I, and that's what the Utah Jazz is — something bigger than myself."

"The respect I that I have for that [Heat] organisation will not go anywhere, the love that I have for the [Heat] fans -- that goes nowhere," Wade told ESPN.

"But this is about the next phase of my life as an investor, a businessman, an entrepreneur. For me, this is an opportunity to grow."

The Jazz – spearheaded by All-Stars Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley – are eyeing their maiden NBA championship.

Utah have suffered back-to-back first-round exits in the playoffs, having last reached the NBA Finals in 1998 – beaten by Jordan's Bulls.

"Dwyane is not only a basketball legend, he is also a great leader, businessman, and human being," said Smith. "As we continue to build on the incredible legacy of the Utah Jazz franchise, we are excited to add Dwyane's experience and expertise to the equation.

"Utah is an amazing place and I couldn't be more thrilled about the future of the franchise and the future of this state. Dwyane's influence will be important to both."

Legendary coach Popovich has won five NBA titles with the San Antonio Spurs, and is one of a number of people named as a contender in their first year of eligibility.

Popovich is a perhaps surprise inclusion, with it previously unknown when he would qualify to be recommended for the honour.

Other potential inductees include Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Dwyane Wade, while the 1976 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team also made the list.

The finalists for the class of 2023 will be announced on February 17 during All-Star weekend, before the final nominees are named on April 1 during the NCAA Final Four.

The players will then be enshrined on August 11 in historic Springfield, Massachusetts, where the sport of basketball was invented.

The San Antonio Spurs coach has won five NBA titles and more games than anyone else in the history of the league, with 1,363 regular season victories and a further 170 in the postseason.

Headliners joining Popovich in the class of 2023 are Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade, as well as two players who played under 'Pop' in San Antonio, Tony Parker and Pau Gasol, and his former assistant and San Antonio Stars player Becky Hammon.

Popovich is coming towards the end of his 27th season with the Spurs, sitting in 14th place in the Western Conference with a record of 19-58.

In better days though, Parker won four championships with Pop at the Spurs, while Gasol makes it more for his success with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won two titles.

Dallas Mavericks legend Nowitzki won the 2011 championship and is sixth in the NBA's all-time scoring list, while 13-time All Star Wade won three titles during his 13 years with the Miami Heat.

Hammon – a six-time WNBA All Star – worked under Popovich in San Antonio between 2014 and 2022 before becoming head coach of the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA.

Wade, Nowitzki, Gasol and Parker are all first-ballot selections after playing their final seasons in 2018-19, while it was also Popovich's first time on the ballot after previously declining Hall of Fame consideration in recent years.

Hammon's elevation was also considered simply a matter of time, with the six-time WNBA All-Star, former long-time San Antonio Spurs assistant and 2022 WNBA championship-winning coach with the Las Vegas Aces having put together a stellar resume since turning pro in 1999.

With Hammon's ties to the Spurs, it figures to be a special night for San Antonio fans as Parker and Popovich are enshrined, joining fellow linchpins of their dynasty Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili after their inductions in 2020 and 2022 respectively.

Popovich coached the Spurs to all five of their NBA titles – 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014 – while Parker contributed to the last four after arriving in 2001 following an impressive youth career in France.

The six-foot-two point guard made six All-Star teams, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team three seasons in a row from 2012-14 as the Spurs battled LeBron James' Miami Heat in a legendary rivalry.

His number nine jersey was retired by the Spurs, as is Nowitzki's number 41 jersey with the Dallas Mavericks.

Nowitzki, who for a long period was European basketball's biggest star, brought the Mavericks their only title in 2011 as he took down the Heat in James' first season there.

The German was named league MVP in 2007, and went on to make 14 All-Star teams, while earning 12 All-NBA selections, including four on the First Team in the space of five years.

While both Popovich and Nowitzki could headline a Hall of Fame class in any given year, that honour may go to Wade, who was the architect of all three of Miami's titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013.

Drafted in 2003, Wade ended up carrying the Heat – alongside Shaquille O'Neal – to their first ever championship in only his third season. 

It was the beginning of a run that saw him make 14 All-Star teams, eight All-NBA teams, and three NBA All-Defensive teams as he rivalled James and Kobe Bryant for the status of best player in the league in 2009 and 2010.

While Wade may have been at his peak in 2009 and 2010, both of those seasons ended with Gasol lifting the title with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Gasol spent just six-and-a-half seasons in Los Angeles, but it is where he will be most fondly remembered after making such a profound impact that he recently had his number 16 jersey retired into the rafters alongside running-mate Bryant.

Adding to his NBA resume was his spectacular international play, where he became the all-time leading scorer in EuroBasket play, averaging 20.4 per game in 58 appearances for his country, while also carrying Spain to their first ever FIBA World Cup gold medal in 2006.